Excavation Contractor and Deep Ripping Services
WE MOVE THE EARTH!
A&L Services, Inc., 36445 Co Rd 31, Davis, CA 95616
California General Contractor License #823087
jim@excavationcalifornia.com or greg@excavationcalifornia.com
Excavation Work? Yes, We Do That!
As a matter of fact, excavation work is tied into just about everything we do at A&L Services. Almost all construction projects involve digging dirt and systematically moving it around. Just look around wherever you are right now, and we’ll bet you see the work of excavation companies.
Many excavation contractors don’t want to admit that they didn’t want to give up their childhood toy bulldozers and dump trucks, so they swapped them for bigger versions. In the contracting business, excavation companies do much more than haul dirt around; they dig, move, compact, grade, trench, rip as well as any other soil-related tasks you can think of. The fun part, for the child in us, is that we do get operate some very large pieces of heavy equipment.
What is the Definition of Excavation?
Excavation is the process of digging to remove material from the ground. This involves moving earth, rock or other materials with tools or larger equipment. Latin source of excavation is excavationem, “a hollowing out”. Excavation has several important applications in farming and construction. In farming, excavation is used to level or shape fields for drainage, dig reservoirs for water storage and ditches to transport water for irrigation. Excavation is often used in construction to create building pads, foundations, reservoirs and roads.

Excavator moves the earth and adds it to the scraper containers to be distributed in other areas of the pond development site.
A&L Services, Inc. is licensed in California as a Class A general engineering contractor, more commonly referred to as an excavation contractor.
Northern California Engineering Projects
Let’s look at the types of projects we do here in Northern California.
Deep ripping and tri-plane work
Pond excavation
Dirt moving
Vineyard and orchard construction
Vernal pool construction
Dirt compaction
Building pad construction
All forms of excavating projects
We also provide equipment for small construction and ranch projects such as discing, ripping, orchard removals, grading, ditch cleaning and building ranch roads and driveways.
Vineyard Construction
This work, of course, is in high demand in our area. When you’re in Northern California, it seems like you pass a vineyard or winery every day on the highway. Creating a vineyard is quite a significant project.
First, someone needs to plan the layout and design of the vineyard. That’s not our work, though. We come in when it’s time to prepare the land for growing and harvesting. Here’s some of what’s involved:
- Vineyard/orchard removal
- Deep ripping
- Vineyard/orchard site preparation
- Reservoir enlargement
- Ditch digging
- Discing
- Tri-plane work
- Pond building
- Road building
As you can imagine, each one of these involves specialized knowledge and training, as well as sophisticated earth-moving equipment.

Caterpillar D8 fitted with custom designed vineyard removal equipment prepares old grape vines for removal on this vineyard replacement project.
Creating Ranch Roads
If you’ve ever had a new road built on your ranch or an older one repaired and graded, you’ll know that doing this professionally and effectively means adhering to the principles that guide the construction of any road, large or small. It involves careful planning and design on the entire site before construction begins.
By the time we arrive with our heavy equipment to clear a pathway, a lot of planning work has already taken place. We do the work to make the road durable, allow for proper drainage, and accommodate the topography suitably for the situation.
Digging Pads and Foundations for New Construction
As with virtually any of our services, this one needs some heavy equipment to do the job right. Excavating building pads and foundation trenches in the ground might seem like a minor part of building a foundation, but it takes knowledge and experience to do it well.
The excavation contractor is ready to go after the surveying crew determines the house and lot boundaries. We cut or fill the soil to the depth required for the new foundation and use our compactors until the geotechnical engineer’s compaction tests meet planned specifications. After the pad has been created, it is time to excavate trenches for the foundation footings and underground utilities. The site requirements are precise, so the excavation contractor must make every effort to ensure that the future home has a properly compacted stable surface for best long-term results.
Wetland Mitigation and Vernal Pool Projects
Wetland mitigation is another of our water-related projects, though one quite different from building or repairing a levee. Wetland mitigation is essential for preserving and expanding our fragile wetlands by creating new wetlands to mitigate for development that might impact existing wetlands. As a condition of development, developers are required to mitigate for several environmental items without regard to how they are being impacted by the project. This has resulted in a great expansion of mitigation land in California.

Excavator loads scraper cans for transportation of dirt while earthmover and caterpillars remove dirt from the base of the new pond.
Vernal pools are seasonal depressions in wetlands areas that are covered by shallow water during certain times of the year and filled with native plant and animal species at other times. Vernal pools are integral to the wetlands ecosystem. They are an interesting combination of excavation with many cuts and fills. This is the process of excavation whereby the material that is cut from areas that are too high and moved and used as fill for sections that are too low. The plans are loaded into our GPS system on our equipment to assure accuracy to accomplish the detailed finish grading to exact specifications.
Wetland areas in Northern California are jeopardized by pollution, urban expansion, and other environmental concerns. Urban expansion is also what drives the creation of wetlands as part of the development process. Our job is to move the earth in ways that help expand this ecosystem for future generations.
Farm and Ranch Maintenance – Clearing Ditches and Discing Fields
Some of what we do with our heavy equipment is smaller in scale, though very important to people’s lives. If ditches become clogged by vegetation or garbage, this impedes the flow of water, which might lead to flooding or reduced water capacity and flow.
We also create fire breaks, disc and tri-plane fields as well as grade gravel roads, load trucks, and just about any construction service you can imagine involving digging, moving, loading or compacting dirt.
Find Out More
Take a look at what our heavy earth-moving equipment can do. Pond digging – Excavating a vineyard water storage facility. See how impressive it is in action!
Pond Development Video Description
What can we accomplish for you? Is it starting a vineyard? Building a road up to your new home site on top of the hill? Whatever you have in mind, if it involves excavation or heavy earth-moving equipment, we’ll work with you. Just reach out when you’re ready to start planning your project.
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No Excavation Project Too Big Or Too Small
We look forward to being a part of your next project.
A&L Services, Inc. is licensed, insured, and bondable. Call A&L Services, Inc. for all your heavy equipment contracting needs.
A&L Services, Inc., 36445 Co Rd 31, Davis, CA 95616
California General Contractor License #823087
E-mail us: jim@excavationcalifornia.com or greg@excavationcalifornia.com